As the title indicates, the object of this book is the study of the consequences of socialism on international economic cooperation. The socialist concept of the future international economic order is that of a world united under a single government and planned by experts for the benefit of all peoples. What forces are at work, under socialism, that will induce “the creation of a single world economy regulated by the proletariat of all nations according to a common plan”. It seems both fair and obvious to turn, for an answer to these questions, to socialist literature itself
In Part I, political and economic systems of authors, from Plato to Stalin, who advocate a centrally planned economy, are presented. It follows from their theories (1) that sovereign political units will subsist under socialism; (2) that the internal miller of the socialist state eliminates division of the economic and political spheres typical of a capitalistic society, and places all human activities under the centralized political control of the State; (3) that these political units are characterized by a watertight economic system that tolerates international economic relations only insofar as they do not disturb the calculated equilibrium of the national plan.
Part II gives a theoretical analysis of the international economic implications of socialism. The loss of objective national and international value criteria caused by the abolition of the market mechanism and the politicalization of national economies leads to a complete disintegration of international economic order. Furthermore, due to the widely differing levels of economic development, national economic plans cannot be regarded as instrumental components of a potential world plan; on the contrary, this plan is identical with the postulate of a redistribution of wealth and a corresponding severe reduction of living standards in the industrialized states. The socialist concept of a World government is therefore utopian unless one powerful socialist superstate succeeded in vanquishing its rivals and in seizing controlling power of the world.
